When the automobile hit the American commercial market in 1896, the market was prepared before the industry and manufacturers. Horseless Age journal began in 1895, providing articles and advertisements regarding automobiles. Its name would be changed to Automotive Industries after the turn of the century.

Woody Guthrie and other folk and blues artists sang the song of the lonesome traveller. Their music encapsulated travail by foot and train to the automobile in the 1940s. As musicians rose in economic class and automobiles became more readily available, songs about cars and highway life rapidly increased in number.